New South African pop sensation Craig Lucas bares his soul on debut album
JOBURG — Restless represents being young, alive and constantly on the move as we try to navigate through life and find our way.
One thing most South African music lovers agree on is the mountain of good music South African artists have released this year. As the year is quickly drawing to a close, it sees the release of The Voice 2017 winner, Craig Lucas’ debut album, titled Restless through Universal Music South Africa.
Having been very impressive throughout the singing competition, there was a lot of anticipation for his debut studio album. Tracks included on the album comprises brand new songs, two covers, one being a Prince cover of Purple Rain and a few reworks of tracks written a while ago by Craig himself.
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“All the songs on the album mean a lot to me. I relate to them one way or another,” he explained. “It’s important that I tell stories of experiences I know about. I pride myself in authenticity.”
Sonically, the album is very contemporary, very inspired and at times experimental. The album was produced by renowned South African producers Peach van Pletzen, Bubele Booi and David Balshaw, and Ewald Janse van Rensburg.
Throughout the album, you can pick up on some of the artists that influenced his artistry. “The sound is daring, much like Kanye West’s music. Lyrically and at times vocally, I draw influence from young musicians such as Lorde and Khalid.”
The way he has been influenced by these artists comes across in a genius and subtle way. The artists’ ability to write music that is relevant to their peers while at the same time nostalgic enough to appeal to an older audience, Craig too was able to execute this very well.
As for the actual content, Craig said he wanted the music to be as relatable as possible. He was inspired by being young and not having his life together and being okay with that.
“I’ve always thought of myself as being a little bit of an oddball – I am really shy and pretty awkward, and I wanted to make music for people like me. I wanted them to feel good.”
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He describes the overarching theme that runs throughout the album as revolving around being a young adult, being too young to deal with adult problems, but too old to be considered a kid. “Restless is about dealing with everything young people need to deal with, why I chose a multifaceted name for the album.”
Craig further said the album also represents the endless pursuit of one’s dreams, “I may have gotten a record deal and finished an album, but that doesn’t mean I want to rest now, I’m already constantly thinking about what comes next.
“It also represents me on a personal level: I am deeply introverted. I live in my mind, it does not rest and is a big part of my personality.”
Craig delivers an honest and soulful debut offering which explores the many different sides of pop music.
“These are my words, my melodies and my thoughts brought to life.”
